GarageSpin

Home recording was covered by the Sunday New York Times, today. (Free registration required to read).

Jon Pareles wrote about the increasing trend of musicians writing, recording, and mixing their music in home recording studios.

More and more music is emerging not from acoustically perfect state-of-the-art studios, but from setups tucked into bedrooms and basements or simply programmed onto a laptop...The growth of home recording is a convergence of technology, thrift and shifting musical tastes that has been building for decades.

Home recorders Mice Parade, Aesop Rock, Keren Ann, and Moby were all interviewed. Here are a few quotes that I thought captured the appeal of home recording well:

Moby: "I have a lot of terrible ideas. But working at home, you can be as embarrassing as you want, and you'll be the only person who will ever hear it. And sometimes the really dumb idea that you had could be a good piece of music." SO true. I find myself much more willing to experiment without the pressures of time and audience upon me.

Keren Ann: "It's also different when you can record your own vocals and nobody hears you. You can confess more. If I had not done 'Nolita' this way, it would have been less intimate, less naked." Also dead on, for me at least. There's nothing like recording in the secure womb that is a home recording studio late at night.

Aesop Rock: "The neighbors prefer I don't do vocals at night. It gets a little iffy when I'm screaming." I was yelled at once by an upstairs neighbor for playing my guitar at 3:00 AM. It was definitely my fault, but it also multiplied any feelings of self-consciousness I had.

Our tools are stronger, garage bands can now sound like studio bands, and a single musician can become an orchestra. I see an industry of microniche, indie, one-man labels in the future.

Thanks, Matt, for pointing out the article.